A Magical Legacy

Maria Friedner

I had always suspected that there was something special about my aunts. Something a little…odd. It had something to do with the way they lived together in the big house on the island, with the way the house smelled of fire and dried herbs, with the way they sounded when they laughed. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but something was off. Even before that summer was over, I learned things about my own family that I could never have imagined in my wildest dreams. And my dreams are pretty wild anyway.

A few days in June, it’s as if time stands still. No one dies and no new babies are born. Signe’s mother is in the hospital and Signe has to go on her own to the island where her aunts live. But the aunts have secrets and soon they disappear. Signe realizes that she has to do something to put time back in order. But what? And why her? Luckily, one day Disa suddenly appears, who has turquoise hair and isn’t afraid of anything. And Signe’s best friend, who knows almost everything and can bake the best chocolate cake, takes the boat from the mainland to get to the island. Together they might be able to solve the mystery.

A magical, comforting feel-good story about sacrificing something you love and having the courage to move on, full of humor and suspense (and guinea pigs).

Maria Friedner is a journalist and author. She works in a library and lives in a cottage in Småland with her husband, two teenagers, an unknown number of house spiders, and a ghost.

Press voices

“With a high tempo and safe hand Maria Friedner throws the reader into a summer mystery that contains magical rites, unexpected family secrets, some handcrafts, a guinea pig and some chocolate cakes. We really love it. It feels easy, but also filled.” Vi läser